


Baby's On Fire

by Devilslock



Series: Somewhere out there... [2]
Category: Adam Lambert (Musician), Tommy Ratliff (Musician)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-03-22
Updated: 2011-03-22
Packaged: 2017-10-17 04:58:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/173146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Devilslock/pseuds/Devilslock
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Finally managed to crank up the next chapter, took me long enough to think through how I want this to progress and am now again stuck with what's gonna happen next. Thanks for the lovely comments in chapter 1, definitely a confident booster knowing that people are liking this. Again, don't own the characters, don't repost anywhere outside AO and LJ and comments are more than welcomed. Here we go` enjoy~</p>
    </blockquote>





	Baby's On Fire

**Author's Note:**

> Finally managed to crank up the next chapter, took me long enough to think through how I want this to progress and am now again stuck with what's gonna happen next. Thanks for the lovely comments in chapter 1, definitely a confident booster knowing that people are liking this. Again, don't own the characters, don't repost anywhere outside AO and LJ and comments are more than welcomed. Here we go` enjoy~

It has been a week since the end of GNT and after the ‘incident’ as Tommy would call it, he had locked himself at home re-watching the entire series of M.A.S.H and every horror film he owned on DVD. He is still consumed by anger, pissed at the ridiculous excuse Adam made at the break-up and fumed with his public make out session with a twink immediately after. Yet his traitorous heart flutters at every thought of Adam, holding him, cuddling him and kissing him. He is furious at himself for loving and still thinking about Adam after being heartlessly used and tossed aside. Having so much time to himself nowadays only fueled the over-thinking and held back the forgetting, and this certainly did not improve his anger nor relief the pain in his heart. His rational half and emotional half of the brain had been in constant discourse regarding how he should handle his relationship with Adam and the glam troupe, and most importantly his future position in the band as his previous contract is nearly at an end and a renewal had been in talks, he was about to sign the papers before the whole fiasco kicked in. Up till this precise moment, he could not even stand talking to Adam, not to mention being in the same room with him, the betrayal is just too much for him to handle and walking out seems to be a bloody good idea. 

 

Fight or flight, it’s only human nature to pick one or the other and call him a coward, Tommy had chosen to hide away and hope everything would just go away. So along with his two best buddies JD and Heineken, and the occasional joint, they are set to ignore the world, to numb the pain and to provide a little room to lick his ego’s wound in private. His mobile had been off, landline unhooked and had barely spoken a word to his flatmate Mike, who was obviously concerned to the sudden appearance of emo-Tommy and is gradually driven insane with his antisocial behavior. He had made several attempts to talk to the blond, but all he could managed to get out of him was that he’s tired from the tour and ‘politely’ excused himself from his roommate’s company to retreat into his bedroom for his ‘Tommy time’. 

 

Mike’s eventual involvement started when he came home one early afternoon where he discovered a pizza (bordering burnt) smoking in the oven and a certain blond passed out face down on his bed with two large empty bottles of whiskey beside him. He knew Tommy’s love for his bourbon, having known and lived with Tommy for years, he knew Tommy can normally handle his drinking, despite his small frame and was never prone to drink his sorrows away, well, at least not like this. He gave the room a quick look around and found another couple of bottles and beer cans scattered around and eventually fixed his eyes on the bed again. The rate and the amount Tommy had consumed in the past week had genuinely raised his alarm to the seriousness of whatever it is that is bothering the bassist. Mike is a strong believer in privacy and personal space, when Tommy would talk, he would listen but he’d never push him for any details that he don’t want to reveal. Call them silly, they are real men, and within their circle of friends and their ‘brotherhood’, a real man is tough and strong, winging and whining is just not how they roll. This time, however, Mike knew something big must have happened when Tommy was on tour and from the looks of things, whatever it was, it is seriously getting to him. If Mike is not the one who can help, than he need to find someone who can and he know just the right person to give his friend a kick in the ass.

 

He pulled the bassist iphone out of his jeans back pocket and pressed the top little button long enough so that the phone loads up, and by the time the home screen appears, 105 missed calls, 56 voicemails and 237 messages were there waiting to be read. Although he is genuinely concerned with what had gone wrong with his flatmate, and all those messages would probably give him a basic outline, still, he would much rather finding out from Tommy himself. He had set his mind in finding out only one thing from the little device and he’d leave it at just that. He dismissed all the alerts and scroll through the contacts and found the number he needed, Mike make no hesitation in tapping the ‘call’ box on the screen and the other end picked up in no time right after one ring.

 

“ _Where the fuck have you been! Not cool man! You had me worried sick!_ ”

 

  
_“Umm….hi, this is Mike, Tommy’s flatmate...”_   


 

\------------------

 

It was not until later in the evening that Tommy was woken up to a sudden brightness and something poking him on his side. He tried to ignore it by turning away from the assault dragging along his duvet over his head to shield himself from the light.

 

“ _TJ, wake up!_ ”

 

 _“hummph...go away…”_ where Tommy’s mumbled reply was muffed by the little cocoon he has wrapped himself into.

 

  
_“TJ!”_   


  
__  


_“WHAT?!”_ Tommy bolt up in annoyance as his duvet is being ripped away from him. _“Isaac? how did you...?”_ He did a quick scan across the room and found Mike by his bedroom door and realization hit him across his face.

  
__  


_“Mike called me and let me in. You’ve locked yourself in the entire week getting drunk practically everyday and not eating much and you didn’t pick up any of our calls! What the hell?!”_ Isaac was this close to shouting.

 

 _“hummph….leave me alone….I can’t deal with anything right now...”_ He flop back down horizontal and pulled a pillow over to cover his head like a 10 years old would do on an early school day morning.

  
__  


_“Right! you’ve got ten minutes to make yourself presentable, we are heading out and we need to talk.”_ Said Isaac with his ‘no-buts’ tone as he picks up a hoodie lying in the middle of the bedroom floor and threw it across onto Tommy’s lap.

 

“ _How about no?”_ Muttered Tommy lifting the pillow an inch away from his face to peer at the other two in his room with eyes half shut.

 

 _“Unfortunately that would not be a wise move, I’ve got your mother’s number on speed dial, if you’re not out of this bed on three, I’ll hit the call button.”_ Chipped in Mike, waving his phone as he replied.

 

  
_“One… two….th-”_   


  
__  


_“okay okay, you got me...I’m up…”_ He lifted the pillow fully out of his face and glared at his roommate _“you dick!”_ Where Mike just shrug and replied, _“No, you’re the dick here and sort yourself out. You better fill me in with what’s with the emo shit when you return, and by the way, you left the pizza in before you passed out, you could have burnt the place down and killed yourself if I had not been back, you fucker!”_ He finished with a glare and retreat into the hall way, worry obvious in his tone.

 

\------------

 

 _“Out of all the places you could have picked, you took me to a fucking Starbucks?”_ Complained Tommy as he was half dragged into the small coffee shop by the arm, stopping in front of the till to look up at the menu. To tell the truth, he really needed something a lot stronger than caffeine if he is to sit through a conversation tonight, the banging in his head is killing him and he did not need a mirror to know he looked like shit even with his hood up and shades on. This is such a bad idea, he should have stood his ground and stayed in. What if they ran into a fan?

  
__  


  
_“Well TJ, since you’ve been mostly drunk for the past week, a little coffee should help to sober up your little brain a tiny fraction! Plus I gotta be up early to go to this family thing with Sophie so we’re gonna be good boys tonight!”_   


  
__  


  
_“I’m fine, seriously…”_   


  
__  


  
_“Obviously not, or else why would Mike ring me, everyone including Adam’s been trying to get in touch with you and -”_   


  
__  


_“What does he want now?… He made it blatantly clear that-”_ Snapped Tommy, the mention of Adam had obviously hit a nerve, and his retort had been interrupted with Isaac’s phone ringing. 

 

 _“Get me an Americano will ya? I’m gonna take this outside.”_ With that said Isaac walked out of the shop to take his call.

 

Tommy slowly push back his hood and took his shads off as he shuffled up to the till, his eyes still transfixed on the over-head drinks menu and was about to make his order when he was cut short by the person at the other end.

 

 _“So, what else can I get you besides the Americano?”_   He was greeted by a modulated voice with a sexy British accent and was slightly taken aback at the sight of a smiling, tall, well built and very handsome brunette.

 

 _“Hi, If you don’t mind me saying, you really do look like you need something stronger than coffee.”_ The barista continued with a such cheerful smile which Tommy would totally punch the crap out of him if he wasn’t so polite and good looking, just like Adam. Shit. Wait, hang on, since when did he start finding other man good looking? He is straight right? And Adam is supposedly the only fucking exception, right? Well, apparently not.

 

 _“Well than, what have you got to offer?”_ saysTommy leaning forward, arms stretched steadying his weight at the edge of the counter with a little smirk himself. His little inner revelation surprisingly did not freak him out majorly and he surely appreciated what he saw.

  
__  


_“I would normally recommend a simple double expresso to give you a kick, but since it’s pretty late now, how about a ‘special’ coupe de la nuit just for you? But don’t tell anyone though, I kinda like having a job to pay my rent”_ He press his right index finger over his lips in a ‘hush’ sign.

  
__  


_“In that case, give me your best shot! … um...Jake”_ replied Tommy after taking a peek on the barista’s name tag.

  
__  


_“You know what, you’re cute and you look like you’ve had a rough day, coffees are on me, I insist.”_ The brunette winked before he turning towards the machines.

 

 _“If you insist, thanks. I totally look and feel like crap right now but than again, thanks for the compliment, and you don’t look too bad yourself either”._ The guy must be a total nut case to think he is cute, thought Tommy.

  
__  


_“Well thank you!”_ Jake is practically beaming upon hearing Tommy’s praise. _“You look fine, more than fine in fact, so don’t beat yourself too hard, everyone’s got their bad days...”_ Jake turned his head and gave Tommy another quick smile before resume pressing a couple of buttons on the machine.

 

His drinks were ready in no time, before he brought them over to the serving table, Jake took out a small hip flask hidden in one of the cabinets and gave one of the coffee a generous dash before fitting on the plastic lids on both cups. Tommy continued their small talk during the whole process and dropped more than their coffees’ worth of tip in the tin next to the cash register before heading towards the pick up table.

 

 _“A tall size Americano and a special one just for you, um...Sir ”_ Jake passed the drinks over in order with a shy smile this time and although very faintly, Tommy could smell the perfume of whiskey from the tiny openings on the cap.

 

 _“O shit, sorry, I’m Tommy, umm….Irish is perfect, great minds do think alike. Are you sure there’s nothing else in it? Rohypnol? No?”_ joked Tommy obviously liking his drink.

 

 _“The stuff in there is 18 years old, single malt, brought all the way from Scotland. My mate got me that a couple of days ago for my 25th, and maybe I might have accidentally slipped something else in there, you can take it or leave it though, Tommy, no hard feelings_.” Jake challenged with a flirty evil grin, arm propped up on the high table surface and rested his chin in his palm.

 

 _“This smells too good to let go, guess I'll just have to chance it than, thanks again for the drinks by the way and a belated happy birthday.”_ Tommy picked up the drinks with a genuine smile on his face, a first since ‘the incident’ before turning his heels to look for Isaac. He scan through the seating area and found him in the far end corner hidden behind a fake palm tree.

 

Tommy walked over and passed Isaac his drink before sitting across in one of those lounger type single sofas.  

 

  
_“Wait, do I smell whiskey?! how did you- What’s that number on your cup?”_   


 

 _“Huh?”_ Tommy turned his cup around and found a number scribble on it with a black marker. He turned around over his seat and looked at Jake who’s now serving a young lady looking all serious yet somehow managed to catch Tommy’s eyes and smiled. _“Cheeky bastard…”_ he uttered under his breath before speaking again to Isaac, _“Lets just say we got free coffees courtesy of a new friend who knows my taste and could not resist my charms, and we’ll leave it as that and before you say anything, I ain’t sharing this.”_ He took a large sip slowly, careful with the high temperature of the drink, _“umm... perfect balance.”_

 

The chat with Isaac seem to have lasted for centuries and he had threatened to combine forces with Mike and/or even Monte to rip him apart into tiny pieces should he let the drinking take over his life. Isaac made several attempts to get Tommy to talk about Adam, but they all failed as the bassist would put on a nonchalant face and divert the conversation into music and other stuff, a significant difference to how he reacted when the subject was brought up earlier on when they entered the coffee shop. 

 

As a matter of fact, Tommy no longer needed to talk about the ‘incident’ with anyone. His little flirt with Jake earlier has proven he’s still got his charms even in his hung over state and he felt good about it. If Adam no longer wants him, big deal! He has still got his music and the band, his second family. Adam had managed to take away his heart, his pride and fucked up everything he thought he knew about himself, it was a big deal to Tommy and it hurts, it really fucking did, but it’s about damn time to call for damage control and move on.  Tommy Joe Ratliff is not going to feel sorry for himself dwelling in the past. Adam took away enough from Tommy and he sure as hell is not going to take away his music as well when his career had only just began to take off. Tommy silently sworn to himself that he has to sort his priorities right and there is nothing time would not heal. In particularly after Adam, he had learnt his lesson and a relationship is definitely not on the top of this list. Having said that, the odd casual, no strings attached flings would not harm, would it? Jake is attractive, but so is the girl sitting a couple of tables away. This is certainly a relief to Tommy as he’s figured he’s not as screwed up as he thought he was and gave the number on the coffee cup a quick glance before returning his full attention to Isaac.

 

When it was time to go, Tommy made no hesitation and took the cup with him even though it had been empty for the past hour or so. He also made sure he caught Jake’s eyes and ensure the barista saw him leaving with the said cup in hand before exiting the double doors, which Isaac, with a raised eye brow, of course did not missed. He looked back and forth between the two and shook his head before following the blond’s footsteps out of the shop. He noticed the changed in Tommy’s behavior after their drink, but could not tell if it is for the better or worst. He knew Tommy can be a stubborn ass, where once he set his mind on something, he will carry it through and consequences be damned. Isaac is not stupid and can fully read the understatement with what just happened, he just hoped Tommy knows what he is getting himself into and as for now, there is not much the drummer could do but to observe and respect Tommy’s own way in dealing with his emotions. He honestly hope Tommy would give himself more time to think things through, sober and not act rash in revenge. He gave Tommy a tight hug, reminded him again their rehearsal times with Ravi and went their separate ways. 

 

Still worried? Fuck yes, if not, even more so.

 

\------------------

 

 

  
_Baby's on fire_   


  
_Better throw her in the water_   


  
_Look at her laughing_   


  
_Like a heifer to the slaughter_   


 

  
_Baby's on fire_   


  
_And all the laughing boys are bitching_   


  
_Waiting for photos_   


  
_Oh the plot is so bewitching_   


  
__  


  
_Rescuers row row_   


  
_Do your best to change the subject_   


  
_Blow the wind blow blow_   


  
_Lend some assistance to the object_   


  
__  


  
_Photographers snip snap_   


  
_Take your time she's only burning_   


  
_This kind of experience_   


  
_Is necessary for her learning_   


  
__  


  
_If you'll be my flotsam_   


  
_I could be half the man I used to_   


  
_They said you were hot stuff_   


  
_And that's what Baby's been reduced to..._   


  
__  


  
_Juanita and Juan_   


  
_Very clever with maraccas_   


  
_Making their fortunes_   


  
_Selling second-hand tobaccoes_   


  
__  


  
_Juan dances at Chico's_   


  
_And when the clients are evicted_   


  
_He empties the ashtrays_   


  
_And pockets all that he's collected_   


  
__  


  
_But Baby's on fire!_   


  
_And all the instruments agree that_   


  
_Her temperature's rising_   


  
_But any idiot would know that_   


  
__  


  

  *   
Brian Eno   

  



 

tbc...


End file.
